Hi folks!  I'm back home for tonight and wanted to make sure I posted something great for you all to read while I was off enjoying beach vacation number two... but my brain is in summer mode and I can't think of anything great, soooo.... thank goodness for Farley and July's currently!

July???  Is it really July already?  I've only been out of school a week but this summer is certainly going to fly by. 

 

And for those of you thinking how wonderful having TWO beach vacations would be... let me clue you in on a reality check here .... I was at the beach for 4 days and had my toes in the sand for about 30 minutes total!  The friends I went with are not really beach people, so although the vacation was fun, it was not beach bliss...

 

and this next one won't be either - weather is cloudy, showers and storms for most of the week.  But... everything is better at the beach, so I'm sure I'll have fun!

 

Now for the "tips and tricks" - I am a newbie blogger and TpT seller.  I am just getting my feet wet in all this, but although you have probably heard it before - be patient!  Followers, sales, etc - whatever you are hoping for - WILL come.  It has to happen naturally.

 

That being said, it will take a while to find what your "niche" is.  I'm still looking for mine!  I'm hoping that when school starts up again, I'll have a better idea what to blog about (I do a lot of games and movement activities with my second graders...) and my TpT store will take off. 

 

Ok, folks, I'm getting ready to pack (again!) and head out until the end of the week.  In the meantime, be sure to visit Christy over at 3rd Grade Theatrics and enter her 100 follower giveaway.  I donated my "Find Someone Who Has" math games bundle.  Good luck!

 

 

And don't forget to follow me on Bloglovin!  Google reader disappears tonight and you wouldn't want to miss any fantastic posts!  You can click here

Or on the right sidebar where it says "Follow me on bloglovin."  How easy is that?  (PS - This cute graphic came from Hope King at 2nd grade Shenanigans.  I think she designed it.  She has way more talent than me.... and  a new puppy, too, apparently!)

 

Thanks for stopping by!

 

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Elementary Stories

Follow my blog with BloglovinVacation, all I ever wanted....  those words are ringing true now!  Friday was our last day with kids!!  It was bittersweet, of course.  I am sooo ready for summer, but I will really miss my kiddos.  It is amazing to look back and see how much they have grown since September. 

Although teachers have to come back on Monday for a PD day... right after we get out, I am heading to the beach :-) 

Yes, folks... 2 vacations - one right after the other and both involving the beach.  I am really looking forward to a few days of relaxation, reading and rejuvenating.  I'll be back after July 4th and have some fun blog post ideas to share with you.

So, until then.... thanks for stopping by - and happy summer!

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Hooray!  My 100 Follower Giveaway was a big success!  Thank you to everyone who entered, followed my TpT store, followed my blog..... followed other people's stores and blogs... just one big thank you!

And the winners are:
Tina P - Grades 2,3,4 Bundle #1
Amy M. - Grades 2,3, Bundle #2
Kristin M. - Grades K-1 Bundle
Christin - Clipart Bundle
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Congratulations to each you!  I sent you an email and you should be hearing from others, as well.

Well, we have 9 days left of school an the countdown has begun.  I decided to follow what many teachers have done and do a special activity everyday to celebrate the end of the year. 

Today's fun..... FOAM! 

Considering the fact we had indoor recess today, the foam went remarkably well!  Clean tables, sweet-smelling hands... what more could you ask for?  Tomorrow we'll do something different.

 

What fun little activities do you do with your kiddos for the end of school?  Share a few ideas in the comments. 

 

Thanks for stopping by!

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Elementary Stories

Several fabulous clipartists and bloggers have come together for an amazing Clipart Challenge hosted by Primary Possibilities!  Each blogger is featuring a clipartist and a product they made using that artist's images!  This is a great way to discover new clipart creators for your summer creations.   So keep reading and following the linky at the bottom to head on to the next post!  You may even pick up some freebies along the way!

Fun, fun, fun!  I had the opportunity to participate in this great project this past month.  Wow!  There are some fantastic clipart artists out there and I was lucky enough to work with Carrie from Clip Art by Carrie Teaching First.

Carrie is a first grade teacher who loves to doodle.  Her blog is filled with doodles, classroom ideas and fun.  Check her out at Clip Art by Carrie Teaching First.

Click on her logo above to go to her TpT store.  She has some a-DOR-able graphics that are perfect for primary classrooms.  Take a look at these:

          

Here's a link to a super cute freebie - I love chocolate of ANY kind!

So... which one did I use?  And what did I create?  Here it is!

 

 

 

Carrie graciously donated her newest creation - Pets Doodles.  You can find it in her TpT store by clicking on the image below.  I also used her free fonts! 

     

Just to celebrate this fun project, I'm sharing one of the five games and activities in my Playing at the Pet Shop unit for FREE!  Do the happy dance!  You can grab my "Roll a Pet" activity by clicking on the image below.  That should take you to google docs where you can download the pdf file.

There are A LOT of great clipart artists taking part in this project - and there are some fantastic creations to take a peek at.... and some of them are free!  Hop through the blogs at the end of this post to see who participated and check out the fun!

 

And remember.... I'm having a great giveaway to celebrate reaching 100 followers for my TpT store.  Click on the image below to find out more.  The giveaway closes Sunday night!

And... you can stop by Kelsea's giveaway at Teacher Gems, as well!  She's throwing a birthday/follower giveaway.  More great resources to win!

Thanks for stopping by!

 





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Elementary Stories

Wow!  I am amazed to say that my little TpT store has reached 100 followers this week!  When I first opened my store at the beginning of March, I never imagined I would have so much fun, "meet" so many new people and learn so much! 

I decided to thank everyone for following my store with a super giveaway!  (Cue the music and cheering!)

Of course, when I asked my TpT friends if they would be willing to donate a little something to my giveaway, they came though - and then some!  I had so many donations I decided to create 4 different bundles:

 

    Grades 2,3,4: Bundles 1 and 2 ~ 2 different bundles full of fantastic products (and some Winner's Choice!) geared towards grades 2-4.

 

 

    Grades K,1 ~ more wonderful resources for the lower grades

 

    Clipart, Fonts and Graphics ~ and because I am such a clipart addict myself, I just had to share some wonderfully creative graphics, as well.

 

Take a look at the great products you can win!

 

Ready to enter?  Fill out the information in Rafflecopter, follow more TpT stores to increase your entries and you're good to go. 

 

The giveaway will be open through Sunday June 9.  Rafflecopter will choose the winners and I'll notify the winners by email and post the names on my blog. 

 

Here are the blog/pinterest/facebook links for everyone who helped make this giveaway a success.  Visit a blog and leave some love.

 

That's it!  Ready....set....good luck!  And thanks for stopping by!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Elementary Stories

I thought I would link up tonight with Farley for the June "Currently."  (Wow - have you seen how big that linky is???  Over 250 bloggers!  I don't think I even know that many people!)  It's June already?!  Aack!  Where did the time go?  Here's life with me right now... and you may want to pay closer attention than usual... I snuck in a few clues about what's coming up later this week....

I am only going to go into detail on two of these things.  Don't want to bore anyone.   

 

Love to hear those birds!  My backyard is wooded and all the storms we've had here over the past year have taken down some big trees.  I live in a condo, so all the maintenance and lawn people cared about was hauling off the branches and stuff on THEIR property.... which left the view from my deck quite a mess - big fallen limbs, dead tree branches... all in the woods so no one wanted to deal with it...

 

Drove me crazy.  Then, inspiration struck!  (Ok, struck someone else, but that person does not read my blog so we'll just say it was my idea.  Ssshh.. our secret...)  Introducing the bird condo development:

 

Trust me - it looks better from my deck.  Those are 4 birdhouses out there.  All cute and new.  Hopefully some little mama birdie will make a home in one soon.  A friend of mine suggested I put one up for every 20 followers I have on my TpT store... cute idea.... there are 4 now.... might be a fifth very soon!  (Hint! Hint!)
 
Story #2 focuses on my weekend.  Yes, filled with wonderful pre-summer fun... but also filled with this guy:
 

Yes, that's a snapping turtle.  On the LAWN.  Not my lawn... a friend's lawn... which used to be a pond at this time last year.   But now it has been filled in.  Only apparently no one sent the memo to Mr. Snapper.  He came by looking for the water and let me tell you, he was NOT happy to see it was gone.  And considering it felt like about 100 degrees on Saturday (oh look - another hint!), I'm sure he was quite disappointed to find he was out of luck.

Here he is safely ensconced in a garbage can for transport to the nearest water....

Just in case you decide to ever re-locate a snapping turtle... you should know that they are not very agreeable creatures.... but, all is well - Mr. Snapper happily swam away in his new home and I still have all my fingers and toes. 

 

Well, that just about covers my weekend.  I hope you paid attention to the very clever clues I placed in my conversation....I'll be back soon with some exciting news!  If anyone cares to guess what my news might be, feel free to leave a comment. 

 

Thanks for stopping by!

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Elementary Stories